TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY: A SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE IN DEALING WITH WATER CHALLENGES

Water management problems are often the realm of complex, dynamic systems consisting of interdependent factors and multiple stressors. The impacts of climate change, the interaction of the demands placed by global population growth, and the effects of unsustainable patterns of consumption and production, have turned the water-energy-land (WEL) nexus into a broader complex set of inter-relations that cannot be ignored. There is therefore a need to develop a better understanding of these problems from a more systems-based perspective. Science has historically focused too much on understanding individual disciplines rather than developing an interdisciplinary understanding of the real causes of problems, while decision making has too often focused on solving individual problems by comparing alternative courses of action, rather than on developing a wider understanding of systems and the complex interrelationships within them. The WEL nexus examines the interdependencies and trade-offs that exist between water, energy and land that must be considered for determining the sustainability of management options. Interdisciplinary, integrated and holistic solutions have the potential to deliver benefits across different sectors, disciplines, and systems, with a real potential for taking us a bit closer to sustainability. Sustainably managing and using water requires a new, interdisciplinary and integrated thinking that takes into account interrelationships between water, people, and the environment. As a society, we must develop and refine our ability to recognize systems, determine the appropriate scale of "wholeness," and sufficiently learn/understand the underlying components/connections. The drive to a society which is more literate and aware of sustainability rather than one focussed mainly on unsustainable and unequal wealth creation with deleterious effects on the environment may in turn drive industrial practices, government policy and individual behaviour. Necessary for this is scientific research that is safe, ethical and anticipatory with regard to potential impacts on health and the environment that is guided on principles of openness and transparency. The reductionist approach that has prevailed historically dividing the world up into its component parts and approaching each separately no longer suffices for addressing environmental challenges. A systems perspective recognizes that our economies are subsets of their environments. The emergence of this holistic worldview creates the potential for the rapid development of a sustainable societal system.